Referee social media accounts.

I do squirm when I see fellow refs have these self-promoting accounts that try to make themselves be noteworthy. By all means have a personal media account that has your content as a ref, but when it comes from the stands "It is not about you!" I feel these accounts kind of prove the point that these referees think it is. My social media does not mention my refereeing in any shape or form. In starting off at ref training, we were advised to not have anything social media related to our refereeing if we could help it. I just don't think it is a good look.

Each to their own.
Trainee referees might be encouraged to avoid social media, because it can cause headaches for County FAs if misused. But there is no blanket ban.
I've followed Eric Edge's YouTube channel 'Behind the Whistle' since it started. It hasn't done him any harm yet as a L5 and it is positive content, and seems to have opened up some opportunities he might not have otherwise had. If he is promoted further then it might get trickier for him to keep running.

I have come off all the mainstream social media platforms through personal choice.
Whilst I would share personal achievements I didnt actively promote my refereeing.
Social media can be used for good, and I do see things I miss out on by not being on there.
It all comes down to the user at the end of the day..so many people fall foul of social media policy because they dont stop and think about what they are posting.
I'm always really careful, even on here, when posting about match clips to keep in line with the policy.

I think it’s pretty amazing how much ref content there is now on FB/Insta. Most of it is positive IMHO. I watch so much of it and know a few of the characters, I am amazed at some of the numbers.

IFAB and a few other general channels (Referee Forum - boo!) get some random non refs, some vitriol and nonsense.

Referee Channel - the (Spanish?) guy is prolific, and he can be nasty in the comments, his style is a bit abrupt but he is always right!

Referee Academy - is a guy I know, top flight AR, great that he can introduce clips of himself in the Champions League.

Refs need love to - the American guy, I think he’s done great, love his attitude

Behind the whistle - the english lad, really great stuff, joy to watch, wish him all good things

…so many more but maybe quick mention to Dutch Referee Blog for probably being too early to the party but creating so many useful resources before VEO and AI took over!

Referee Forum is now huge.

The owner seems to be an Alexei Sayle knock-off with questionable views. Has started to use AI to create anonymous posts to drive content.

The American one is quite frequently wrong in law but he's enthusiastic and a good communicator.

Their are a few twitter referee account that defend the indefensible frequently which doesn't help the perception of referees.

For personal accounts couldn't care less what they post if it's legal, unfortunately the people often reporting other referee's tend to be fellow refs.

The one that I really struggle with is RefSupportUK. Great cause having a support line out there for referees and I cannot knock that side of them. The part I cannot get behind is the way they communicate with fans on X and I think it causes more negativity towards refs instead of trying to help them understand decisions

santa sangria said:

Referee Channel - the (Spanish?) guy is prolific, and he can be nasty in the comments, his style is a bit abrupt but he is always right!

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Really like his stuff (the videos from his own games are good too but he seems to have stopped doing them recently), but his comments to people are hilarious (and justified in my opinion - ask stupid questions/ give a stupid comment and you'll get a simple and abrupt answer back!) - but really good stuff anyway.

Samuel said:

The one that I really struggle with is RefSupportUK. Great cause having a support line out there for referees and I cannot knock that side of them. The part I cannot get behind is the way they communicate with fans on X and I think it causes more negativity towards refs instead of trying to help them understand decisions

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Agreed. Same with Third Team for me. Kinda misreading the room IMHO.

I've put refereeing related things on my Facebook feed, like check ins at venues, plum appointments, but have always been very careful with both what I post and who can see the posts. I qualified and was in the NLS before social media really became a problem, certainly before referees were advised to not use their real name on there, but I've never had a problem. And what I've always avoided doing is openly criticise referees on there, that would be a really silly thing for a referee to do.

Video footage of a penalty I awarded has just been posted on a GK's account, complete with a poll. Tempted to send this screenshot!

In social media news I was a bit surprised that a dude showed at my match the other night and has started his own ref YouTube channel… no commentary, just very nicely edited and quite flattering footage of the third team prancing about!

Samuel said:

The one that I really struggle with is RefSupportUK. Great cause having a support line out there for referees and I cannot knock that side of them. The part I cannot get behind is the way they communicate with fans on X and I think it causes more negativity towards refs instead of trying to help them understand decisions

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That page is nonsense ramblings of a bloke who wants to get on talksport.